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Merck to move HQ from Whitehouse Station to Summit, N.J.

Merck & Co. said Tuesday that its cost-cutting efforts will now include closing its global headquarters building in Whitehouse Station, N.J., and moving most of those functions and people about 30 miles east to Summit.

FILE - This Wednesday, April 15, 2009, file photo, shows the lobby of Merck & Company's world headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. The drugmaker Merck & Co. announced Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012, that it will move its global headquarters to another Merck site in Summit, which is about 12 miles west of New York City, in order tolower operating expenses and consolidate its properties. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
FILE - This Wednesday, April 15, 2009, file photo, shows the lobby of Merck & Company's world headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J. The drugmaker Merck & Co. announced Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012, that it will move its global headquarters to another Merck site in Summit, which is about 12 miles west of New York City, in order tolower operating expenses and consolidate its properties. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)Read moreAP
    by David Sell, Inquirer Staff Writer
    Published 

Merck & Co. said Tuesday that its cost-cutting efforts will now include closing its global headquarters building in Whitehouse Station, N.J., and moving most of those functions and people about 30 miles east to Summit.

The move would mean a longer commute for some of the employees who live in Pennsylvania, many of them in Bucks County.

Merck is among the large pharmaceutical companies wrestling with pressure from several fronts: Insurers, public and private, want to reduce the cost of drugs. Revenues have declined when patent protection ended, allowing generic competitors to grab market share.

A company spokesman said Tuesday that this move does not mean any more immediate changes for the Merck manufacturing facility in West Point, Montgomery County.

"This announcement is not a restructuring in terms of job cuts," Merck spokesman Ron Rogers said. "We do have an ongoing effort to consolidate our global real estate footprint."

The move probably won't start until 2014 and will be completed in mid-2015, the company said in a statement. About 2,000 employees and contractors currently at the Whitehouse Station, Hunterdon County, headquarters will move to the facilities in Summit, Union County, or to nearby facilities such as those in Branchburg, Somerset County, and Cokesbury, Hunterdon County.

Merck's headquarters have been in Whitehouse Station since 1992, after being in Rahway. Merck got the Summit facility when it bought Schering-Plough in 2009.

"The relocation of our headquarters will help us achieve our future vision, reduce the size of our operating footprint, and increase agility as we adapt to our changing business environment," said Kenneth C. Frazier, a Philadelphia native and Pennsylvania State University graduate who is chairman and chief executive officer of Merck.